As previously promised, I am creating a guide of helpful tips for getting around Costa Rica. A lot of the information that you will need is incredibly difficult to find online...it took my travel buddy and I lots of trial and error to successfully get around the country the way the locals do. If you are traveling through a private agency etc...this won't be helpful for you. This is for the people who plan to navigate the country on their own (the cheaper way!).
1. When you arrive at the San Jose airport:
- There is a Kolbi cell phone booth right by the baggage carousels...If you have an unlocked phone, you can buy a Costa Rican SIM card...pop it in your phone...and receive a local phone number. This is a super great option. You won't be able to use your home phone number while you are there...but this was like $20 for an entire month (including messages, calls, and data...lots of data). Highly recommend.
- After you grab your luggage, you will turn a corner and instantly you will be outside of the airport. This can be overwhelming as there are tons of people who want to give you a ride to your destination. Something that is super important to remember: Uber is now widely used in San Jose...except for at the airport. There are lots of taxis at the airport and they make it very difficult to get an Uber. I would recommend just taking an ORANGE colored (airport taxi official color) taxi to your destination if it is in San Jose.
A note on taxis: besides at the airport where there are orange taxis, everywhere else the official taxi color is RED! So use these if you decide not to use uber. In general, Uber is cheaper than taxis. I had great luck using Uber. It charges you in colones so download a currency converter so you know how much you are paying.
2. Traveling by bus on the weekends (from San Jose):
- The buses are very nice. I usually kept all my belongings with me...on my lap or by my feet...but I never felt unsafe! Most of them are air conditioned (if not, the windows open up nice and wide), some have WiFi, and some stop mid-trip for a bathroom break/leg stretch. These things all depend on destination and length of travel.
- There are several bus terminals in the city...it can be super tricky to figure out which terminal takes you where...so I will lay it out for you!
- 7-10 Terminal: This is a brand new, gorgeous terminal...this is where most of the buses to popular destinations leave from (you can visit their website here). You cannot buy your tickets online...you have to buy them at the terminal. Since we were living in San Jose, we usually went to the terminal 2-3 days before our desired departure to buy our tickets. However, I think lots of people have luck buying tickets the same day that they want to travel.
- Another popular terminal is Tracopa (their buses are pink! - supes cute, you can visit their website here). Again, I bought my ticket several days in advance...most of my buses were full so I was glad I was guaranteed a ticket since I bout it early. I took this bus to Manuel Antonio - highly recommend this destination! More later...
- Lastly, we also took a bus from Terminal MUSOC (see location here, no website). This was not a touristy bus...this was definitely a more local thing to do but we went on a fabulous adventure to the mountains and this was the bus we needed to take! If you are traveling to touristy places...you probably won't find yourself needing to use this terminal.
In general, round trip bus tickets are $10 - $20. This is such a great deal for the length of travel to a lot of these destinations!
I do want to highlight...that once you arrive at the bus terminal to board your bus ( and i recommend arriving 20 minutes early or so)...it can be VERY UNCLEAR which bus you need to get on. There are no signs that state the destination of the bus. There will be a person who calls out the destinations when it is time to line up and start boarding (this is done in Spanish and it can be easy to miss what they are saying)...I always just asked people which bus was going to my destination...even if you don't speak Spanish, you can say " para Manuel Antonio etc...wherever you are going..." people will understand that and point you to the correct bus. Once you are standing in front of the bus, there should be an electronic sign in the window that does say the destination. This sounds chaotic, but I promise you that it does work out! Just arrive with enough time to figure it out!
3. Hotels/Hostels:
- Download the app "Hostel World". I used this a ton. You can look up and book hostels directly from the app. We had pretty great luck with this...and hostels are definitely the cheaper way to travel if you are okay with a minimalistic, shared-space type of adventure. One hostel that I would love to highlight is Hostel de Haan - a wonderful hostel in Jaco. At Hostel de Haan, I stayed in a 5 bedroom dorm. The owner, Wilson, is very kind, accommodating, and hilarious. He put my friend and I in a dorm of all girls, made us laugh, gave us great recommendations on fun stuff to do etc.! This was one of my favorite places we stayed. Plus, in the lockers inside of the dorm...there were outlets! We could leave our phones locked up/safe while still charging while we went to the beach!
- If you choose to stay in a hotel (which we sometimes did as well!), I recommend just going on google maps and looking to see which hotels are within walking distance to most of the activities you want to do. A lot of the touristy areas that we went to are very spread out so you will either need to be ready to walk long distances or rent an ATV etc. This was especially true in Manuel Antonio and Santa Teresa.
4. Food/drink:
- Costa Rica prices are essentially the same as in the US. You will not be finding many good deals, especially in the premier beach destinations. I would plan to travel with the same amount of money as you would if you visit any other American city.
- Water: I drank the water from the faucet basically everywhere. I thought it tasted good and I only got sick once - our last weekend in Manuel Antonio. As a rule of thumb, I would say that you can totally drink the water in San Jose...but I would buy bottled water everywhere else!
5. Money:
- I lived in San Jose for one month...and I never once used an American dollar. I paid for everything with colones.
- That being said, I then brought colones with me on the weekends to touristy areas...and most of them accepted or even stated their prices in American dollars!
- There were ATM's everywhere and you can chose which currency you want!
- I definitely recommend grabbing a few colones in the airport before you need to get your taxi etc..but then just use an ATM so you get the best conversion rate.
- You can use your credit card almost everywhere! If it is not an international card, there is just a very minimal fee.
6. Places I recommend!:
- Santa Teresa (on the Nicoya peninsula/Guanacaste): This place is a dream. The most untouched, gorgeous beaches that I have ever seen. If you go here, I recommend staying at Otro Lado (linked here). This place was so cozy, well-kept, and really - just perfect. There is a lovely breakfast included, it is across the street from the entrance to the beach, there are hammocks, a pool, furry friends, and super fun company. We had book a hostel on hostel world...and when we arrived it just wasn't our jam...so we walked down the road and found this little treasure. Please stay here, it will make you so happy. I want to go back!
- Santa Teresa is a surfer's paradise. It is full of young, active people who stay there for weeks at a time to just chill out, work out, and surf.
- It is very, very spread out...and all of the roads are dirt/rocks. We rented an ATV and it was the best thing ever. Wow that was fun. Highly recommend!
- There are tons of good places to eat...you wouldn't know they exist unless you ask! One of my favorites was Banana Beach. It is actually a hotel, restaurant, etc. but it is one of the most fun places with the best food! One night we got to enjoy margaritas while watching a beachwear fashion show!
- If you want some nightlife...everyone goes to Blue Bar on the weekends...you will have to ask where this one is! It is way fun but definitely requires some mode of transportation to get to!
- If you want to learn how to surf: this is a super cool place to do it! The teachers are phenomenal, the surf culture is great, and the waves are some of the best that you'll find! My surf experience was exhilarating...pura vida!
- Manuel Antonio: This place is very family friendly. It is absolutely gorgeous. There is tons of wildlife! You can walk through Manuel Antonio National Park and see monkeys, sloths (if your lucky), beautiful vegetation and beaches! Definitely give yourself more time than you think you need here. Bring your suit! Stay and swim a while. Enjoy the monkeys - they will put on a show for you...here's an example!
While in Manuel Antonio, there are also many other things to enjoy besides the wildlife park! We went on a catamaran cruise, snorkeling, parasailing etc. This place really is a gem - you should definitely check it out!
- The mountains:
- If you can (and you are willing to leave the beach for a bit), I would highly recommend checking out one of the mountainous areas of Costa Rica. My travel buddy has a friend who lives in Copey - a very small community in the mountains of Zona de los santos. This was probably the most gorgeous place I have ever been! The bus ride was super enjoyable because you are winding up the mountains the entire time. These views are imprinted in my mind - they make me so happy. This is not a touristy thing to do at all - and had we not had a connection to this place, we would have never found ourselves going there! If you can swing it - I would recommend checking out a community similar to this one. The climate in the mountains is definitely cooler - so bring warm clothes!
I will stop here! If you have any questions about travel in Costa Rica, feel free to reach out! I love this country and plan to go back any chance that I get. < 3 < 3
Comments